The first 750 New South Wales social housing properties to receive critical maintenance upgrades under the $1 billion "Repair and Restore Maintenance" program have been announced. This marks the initial tranche of work to address maintenance needs in 30,000 public housing homes.
As part of this initiative, the NSW government has launched a new "Maintenance Hub" to bring maintenance services back under public control and improve responsiveness to tenant repair requests.
The 750 homes selected for the initial round of upgrades are spread across 55 local government areas, including:
- 65 homes in the Blacktown LGA
- 47 homes in the Wollongong LGA
- 44 homes in the Campbelltown LGA
- 44 homes in the Cumberland LGA
- 43 homes in the Newcastle LGA
- 43 homes in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA
Six maintenance service providers have been selected to partner with Homes NSW to deliver the upgrades, with four of them being new providers.
Through the Maintenance Hub, Homes NSW staff will directly coordinate and manage tenant repair requests to improve responsiveness and customer service. Tenants will also be able to sign off on completed works to enhance accountability.
The government says this reformed maintenance system will support small businesses, local tradespeople, and new jobs, including for disability/community providers, Aboriginal enterprises, and social housing tenants themselves.